Omaha daily bee., 1887-07-24
THE PRINCESS BAY ACCIDENT.
Account of MIR. Smith. Who Was Ono
of the Party.


New YORK, July 23.-lSpecial Telegram
to the BEE. the tragic death by lightning
of Michael J. Dixon, the ice cream manufac-
turer, and John p. Ryan in Princess bay
yesterday has caused a sensation in New
York and vicinity, where Mr.. Dxon's name
was known to almost every man, woman and
child. AT last reports Mr.. Dixon's body had
not been found. There were three men in
tie party, Dixon and Ryan in one small boat
and the third man, named Smith, in another
They were fishing about two miles from the
Staten Island shore. Suddenly squal
arose followed by rain and lightning. Mr..
Smith says:
Suddenly l felt as though had had a
heavy blow OH top of the head and that is
the last knew for a long time, l heard no
thunder and saw no lightning. When came
to was lying on the bottom Of the boat. l
was dazed and confused and it was min
ute or more before | noticed anything wrong
with the other boat. Then | saw it was
filled with water and Its gunwales full to the
level of the sea. and there was no one
VISIBLE. VISIBLE IN 1t. got up my 2nchor an Si as
was nowhere to be seen and Mr.. Ryan was
hanging head down. out OF the
boat boat, in the water at lie was nearly
hung only by a remnant of his trousers
which had caught in some way on the boat
1t rained so hard could only see little dis.
tance around me. l held fast to the body
for help, but it was of no use, 1t was two
| miles to land and the storm drowned my
voice. managed at last to get an oar in my
| right hand and holding Mr. Ryan's body by
| the wrist with my left, started to paddle to
| shore, towing the corpse behind me. | made
| little progress and ! stopped every now aud
then to shout with all my strength for help,
and must have worked IN this way fully
l ma far nf hf,Ir iptn n
boat putting off and l knew | had been
heard. 1t was Benjamin Westcott who
| heard me first and he held me fast as he
could could The storm had all blown over now.
| Following MIR. Westcott, three colored men
came out in another boat The colored men
did not want to take the body out of the
| water on account of the coroner thinking
they might be violating the law. insisted
hausted by the work and the shock that
could do nothing more lay back in my
boat and they towed me ashore
| MIR. DiXon'S body was no where to be seen.
The boat was towed into the shore and
| drawn up on the beach near where Mr..
Ryan's body was. The boat was split slightly
in the bottom and the inside was torn loose.
When the boat was bailed out two 10 cent
| pieces, Mr.. Ryan's knife, SHIRT stud ana an
ivory sleeve button were found among the
fish that were lying in the bottom. MIR. Ryan
was also in the ice, cream business in New
York and had made considerable fortune.
| He was large. fine looking man of about
sixty. lie leaves widow and five children.
MIR. Dixon was about forty-two years old.
lie leaves widow and two daughters. He
| possessed extensive means, His business
signs in the city and country are everywhere
| and his cures were legion.
LATER.-The body of Mr.. Dixon was re-
| covered this morning near the spot where it
went down. The appearance of the body
| shows that Mr.. Dixon was not struck by
| lightning, but was stunned by the shock and
| thrown overheard before assistance could
| reach him. The body was well preserved
| and was attred in n full suit of clothes. Mr..
| Dixon wore Il diamond stud, valued at $4,000,
| which was recOyered.